Dawn of Rebellion (Dawn of Rebellion Series Book 1) Read online

  “There are Americans out there but they might not be friendlies. I've heard there's also a few large settlements out there but I don't know if we should risk it.” Drew is getting exasperated with every word Lee says.

  “What do you want us to do then?” Drew asks.

  “I say let’s go a bit West then South.”

  “What’s south?” Drew looks confused.

  “Mexico.” Lee looks around at the rest of us and I finally decide to speak up.

  “No,” I say. “We go west.” Gabby and Sam have wandered over by now and everyone starts talking at once; asking me why and how I can be so sure. I look over to Gabby because I know what I’m about to say is going to affect her most of all. When I speak, I am speaking directly to her.

  “Dad told me to.” Everyone is stunned and confused except for Lee.

  “Is that what he whispered to you before we were taken away?” Lee asks. It’s not that I had forgotten to tell everyone about the plantation and what took place there, I had consciously chosen not to. I wasn’t ready to talk about it but now I see no other option. I go on to tell Drew, Sam, and Gabby everything that happened. When I finish, I am surprised that Gabby’s first question has nothing to do with our father.

  “Jeremy is alive?” she asks urgently.

  Chapter 54

  Gabby

  My mind is racing. Right now, I could care less about my father. He left us. Jeremy is another story. I had thought they would have killed him. I feel a red hot flush creep up my face until I can no longer control myself. I start pacing back and forth as I say, “What are we waiting for? We need to go get Jeremy.” Looking at the faces surrounding me, I am the only one who sees the immediacy of this situation. “Are you guys daft? We need to go. Now!”

  “We can’t just break him out of the plantation. You guys haven’t seen this place. Dawn can attest to how impossible this is.” Lee looks to Dawn but she is staring at me instead.

  “Let’s go get him” she says. I have never been more grateful to have Dawn as my sister than I am now. She starts walking and I immediately follow her. The boys take a little longer to grow some balls before they join us.

  “How do you expect to do this?” Lee asks.

  “We’ll find a way.” Dawn is not wavering in her resolve. And so we head off. What are we thinking?

  As we’re walking, I can hear Claire’s voice ever so sweetly making me promise to escape with Jeremy. I may not fail you after all. I want to run all the way to the plantation and scream until they let Jeremy go. I want to burn the place to the ground. My energy level right now is soaring. We are about to go into the belly of the beast.

  We reach the road leading to the plantation pretty quickly since both Dawn and Lee know the way. Later on, I’m going to have to deal with the other revelations like my dad being alive, but, right now, Jeremy is all that matters. The sun is out in full force this morning and all this light could make our rescue kind of tricky. I don’t think I could wait all day for this though.

  When we get nearer to the house, I am amazed at what I see. It is so beautiful that I can’t even imagine the horrors that must take place inside those walls. We hunker down behind the barn that is to the left of the front door. The barn is huge and I can hear the animal sounds coming from the inside. I peer through a window and see stalls and stalls of horses. I have never seen such a large animal up close before.

  Switching my thoughts back to the task at hand, I look towards the front of the house. There is a steady stream of rankers coming and going. We observe for the next hour or so before beginning to make a plan. Suddenly, an idea pops into my head. I turn to the rest of the group with a grin on my face.

  “I have an idea,” I say as I point to two soldiers that have just exited the front door. I look at Dawn and can tell that she knows what I’m talking about but the boys look lost.

  “We’re going in,” Dawn says.

  “How do you expect all of us to do that without getting caught?” Drew looks dubious.

  “I am afraid you don’t understand,” I clarify. “You’re not going in. Dawn and I are.”

  Immediately the three of them begin to object. They say there is no way they are sending us in alone. They say we are sure to get caught. They are worried about us being recognized. I don’t care what they say; I know this is the right plan.

  The guys eventually realize we aren’t budging so they start asking about our plan. Do we have one? We need a way to get in the front door.

  “We need uniforms,” I say.

  “Easy enough,” Drew says. “This place is swarming with soldiers. Hold on.” He disappears around the side of the barn.

  The rest of us wait in silence, having no clue what Drew is up to. After a few minutes he comes sprinting around the corner, two soldiers close on his heels. They yell to each other as they catch sight of the rest of us but they don’t slow down. Drew whips past us and Sam sticks out his leg, tripping the soldiers. They scramble to get up but both Lee and Sam are ready for them. Before the soldiers can even reach for their guns, the boys knock them out. Well, that was surprisingly easy.

  We immediately start stripping the soldiers of their uniforms. As Dawn and I don our new digs, the boys look like they want to object again but they smartly stay quiet. I laugh as I look at Dawn. Her uniform is really big on her tiny body. She has to roll the pants at the waist and tuck the shirt in deep. I am sure I look just as silly. The last piece of our ensemble is the rifle slung across the back of each soldier. They are constantly armed and therefore, we must be too. I have never held a gun before since it is illegal for civilians in England to own a firearm. It feels heavy in my hands.

  “Do either of you know how to shoot those?” Lee asks. All three boys look uncomfortable seeing us armed. Lee takes it out of my hands as soon as I shake my head no. “These rifles look pretty simple. Point and shoot mostly. Just make sure the safety is on when you’re not using it. We don’t need you shooting yourself.” He hands it back to me and I sling it over my shoulder.

  “So, you guys are going to stay here so we know where to find you,” I say. I grab Dawn’s hand, giving it a squeeze before releasing it. “You ready?” I ask.

  “You bet,” she says as she picks up her rifle and walks out into the open.

  Chapter 55

  Dawn

  I don’t want to let it show, but having a gun across my back is making me extremely uncomfortable. I am trying to be strong for my sister because she needs me to be at my best right now. She hasn’t told me why, but she obviously cares a great deal for this boy. Walking out from behind the barn is the most nerve wracking experience I have had since getting here. These uniforms have that effect on me. We are about to enter a house full of people who won’t hesitate to kill us if we are recognized. I have to keep telling myself to be brave but it’s not that easy. I am acting all brave and nonchalant for Gabby but that’s all it is; an act. In truth, I am terrified.

  As we walk across the lawn, I imagine everything that could go wrong. Surprisingly enough, at the top of the list is being confronted by my father again. I am still not ready to face that reality. Last time, I was so shocked that I wasn’t truly aware of what was happening.

  Every step brings us closer to the front door. This plan is the craziest one we have come up with. We are joined by other soldiers moving towards the house. Occasionally someone tries to make small talk and I just nod until they finally shut up. By the time we reach the front steps, we are in the middle of a throng of soldiers. We walk up the steps and straight through the front door. If we pause, even for a second, someone may grow suspicious. We must act like we know exactly what we’re doing. Amidst the British soldiers, the gun I am carrying feels like more of a comfort than a hindrance.

  As we step through the front door we are confronted with a large room full of people bustling about. The interior of the house seems even grander than the exterior. The walls are white with detailed carvings along the baseboards and ceiling. Ever
y few meters along the walls there are gorgeous paintings of all sorts of styles. The carpeting is a rich red color. To our left there is a spiral staircase with golden railings leading to the upper floors of the house. There are about a dozen hallways going from this room and we don’t have much time to choose one.

  “We need to keep moving,” Gabby whispers to me.

  “I know we need to go to the right but there are about four different hallways we can choose.” I am starting to panic.

  “Just choose one,” Gabby urges. I lead us to the hall at the farthest end of the room and we turn into it. I can tell almost instantly that this is all wrong. The hall is extremely well lit and just as ornate as the room we have come from. It also seems to dead end into some offices up ahead. I turn back and Gabby follows without a word. I am surprised that she is willing to take my lead on this, even though she really has no other choice.

  I turn us down the next hall, hoping this one is more promising. It begins to look more familiar the farther we go. The walls are the same green as the place where I was kept before. We walk through the many twists and turns until we reach the end. I am extremely disappointed to find no door leading to the outside. The hall where Jeremy is being kept has the door that Lee and I were brought through at one end. I look over at Gabby’s hopeful face and shake my head. She looks away and I can’t tell if she is mad at me for getting it wrong or is she is just as disappointed as I am. We turn back around and head out to the main entrance once again. I am beginning to think that this house is even bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside, if that is possible.

  Maybe the third one is the charm. I am starting to feel like a prat, trying to find my way. The longer we are in this house, the more at risk we are of getting caught. We start down the third hallway and it looks exactly like the second. At this point I am completely disoriented and am not very hopeful. The farther we go down the hall, the darker it gets. I can tell we are in a rarely used part of the house. This must be it. I am beginning to recognize doorways. We reach the end of the hall and there’s a door!

  As I am reveling in this fact, there is a noise behind us; footsteps. Gabby and I look at each other frantically, both of us realizing that there is nowhere to go. We try every door we can find but none of them open.

  “What do we do now?” Gabby hisses. I grab my gun and motion for her to do the same. Her eyes widen but she does what I say. I am still not used to my sister listening to me.

  Shite. The footsteps are coming closer. The lighting is so low that we can’t see anything until the footsteps are right in front of us.

  “Who’s there?” A deep voice comes from the dark. “No one is supposed to be down here.”

  We have our guns pointed towards the sound of the voice but my finger freezes on the trigger as a man steps into the light nearest us.

  “Soldiers…” he begins to say but stops as his eyes show recognition. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that he keeps an office down here. I reach over and push Gabby’s gun down with my hand.

  “What are you doing here? I told you to leave and go west,” he whispers urgently.

  “Who the hell are you?” Gabby doesn’t have the time or the desire to feign politeness.

  “Gabs,” I pause, “this is our father.”

  Chapter 56

  Gabby

  What? We don’t have time for this right now and frankly, I don’t have anything to say to this man. I brush Dawn’s hand away and raise my gun, this time directly in my father’s face.

  “Gabby,” Dawn tries to say but I don’t let her finish.

  “Get out of our way. I won’t hesitate to shoot a man who means nothing to me.” Dawn is looking at me with a strained expression but she stays quiet. I push this man aside with my gun and walk past him. Dawn follows me without another word.

  “You won’t find the boy without help.” I stop walking but I don’t turn to look at him. Dawn turns and walks back towards him.

  “Where is he?” she asks.

  “I can take you.”

  “Why should I trust you?” I need to know.

  “The water,” he says.

  “What?” It couldn’t have been him.

  “In the box. I made sure you survived. I brought you water. Is that a good enough reason?”

  “How do I know it was you?” I would be dead if it wasn’t for that water.

  “Do you really think they would have cared if you died in there? The second time they were actually hoping you would.” He brushes past me as does Dawn. I have no choice but to go along. Dawn seems to have more faith in this man that we barely know than I do. He could be leading us into a trap but he is the reason I am still alive. It was his soldiers that put me in there though, so I don’t know what to think.

  We head back down the way we had come, eventually making a right turn and then a left. We stop outside a door that looks no different from the rest.

  The man calling himself our father produces a key ring with so many keys that it looks like it could open any door in the world. He shuffles through them, finally choosing one. He sticks the key in the lock and we hear three short clicks. The door swings open. At first, the room is too dark to see anything, but as my eyes adjust I see a figure huddled in the corner. I run into the room and drop to my knees in front of the man. I lift his face and choke back a sob.

  “Jeremy, what have they done to you?” I whisper. He is not moving so I check for a pulse. It is faint but it is there. “He’s alive!” I motion back to Dawn. She hurries in and crouches next to me.

  “We need to get him out of here now,” Dawn whispers. I look over my shoulder at the man still standing in the doorway, considering our options. I stand and walk back towards him.

  “You want to help?” I ask and he nods slowly. “Then get us out of here.”

  He thinks for a moment and then steps forward. He helps Dawn and I get Jeremy to his feet. As we do, Jeremy opens his eyes. He shows no sign of recognition but at least he is awake and we won’t have to carry him out.

  “Let’s get him out of these chains,” I say hurriedly. It hurts me to see Jeremy like this.

  “No, leave them on. You three will never get out of here without them.”

  “What do you want us to do?” Dawn asks hesitantly. He uses a hushed voice to tell us exactly how to get Jeremy safely away. I don’t trust this man but his plan is the only one we’ve got. I just don’t understand why he’s helping us.

  Our father hands Dawn an envelope. “Go west and find a man named Jonathan Clarke. He’ll explain everything to you girls. They will come after you. I’ll try to stall but it may not be enough. Be safe. And girls,” he pauses.

  “What?” I say, anxious to get moving.

  “Floridaland is only the beginning.” With that, he leaves us standing in the hallway, holding Jeremy up, having no clue what he meant.

  We head down the hall, to the door and find it unlocked. Dawn says she and Lee were brought in through that door so she knows where it leads. Jeremy grows heavier with every step. He is semi-conscious and we can barely hold him up. Neither of us has ever been particularly strong so we struggle. We just have to make it back to the barn. Hopefully, the guys will still be waiting for us there.

  “Stop right there!” Three soldiers step out to block our way. “What are you doing with this prisoner?” The soldier who spoke pokes Jeremy in the stomach with the butt of his gun.

  “General Nolan ordered his return to the camp.” I only hope my voice sounds more confident than I’m feeling right now. My heart is beating rapidly and my palms are sweating. The soldiers don’t move. I try to look dutifully bored. The soldier in front is the man I see every time I close my eyes. His scar; his pocked face. It takes everything I have not to shoot him right then and there. I wait for his look of recognition. It never comes.

  “Carry on then.” Finally he steps out of our way and the other two follow his lead.

  After some distance, Dawn and I let out a collective sig
h of relief. That was close.

  Chapter 57

  Dawn

  My arms feel like they are about to fall off. We pass by a few more soldiers as we make our way across to the barn but no one else gives us a second thought.

  As soon as we round the corner of the barn, Lee and Sam take Jeremy from us. Gabby runs past me and vomits on the ground. She then goes to where Jeremy is lying down. Lee and Sam are attempting to remove his chains. Lee is slamming a rock down onto each lock trying to break it open. The noise of rock on metal is loud but I don’t think we’ll be heard over the noise from the plantation. It looks like he’s done this before. I know so little about him. I only know the tragic story of the girl he loved.

  I am still lost in thought when Drew rushes towards me and sweeps me up in his arms. I am so stunned that it takes me a moment before I hug him back. He buries his face in my hair and squeezes tighter.

  “We were so worried,” Drew mutters. “You guys took so long and we didn’t know what was happening."

  “It’s okay.” I rub his back. “We’re here.” I smile up at him. There is so much I want to say to this boy but I don’t get a chance as Sam comes to get us. I immediately release Drew at the urgent look on Sam’s face.

  “He’s awake,” Sam says. I walk quickly to the spot where Jeremy is laying. Gabby is on her knees leaning over him. His eyes are only starting to open and I watch my sister run her fingers along his face. Gabby is not a gentle person. The only person she has cared enough about to treat like this was me. I guess I’m not the only one who’s changed.

  Jeremy comes to and I can see him talking to Gabby but I can’t hear what they’re saying. Lee has backed away to give them some privacy and Drew is next to me. Sam comes up and puts his arm around me. I return the gesture and lean in to him.

  “I am glad you’re back little lady. You gave us quite a scare.” He kisses the top of my head. “Proud of you,” he whispers.

  Lee steps forward and says, “we need to get going before anyone finds out what you two just pulled off under their noses.”